The Whiny King becomes reliable all of a sudden!
by Tonuk456
Summary: Yuuri somehow gained new abilities and powers after return home. Boy, it sure came in handy now... somewhat MKR X-Over Fem!Yuuri
1. Chapter 1

Maturity of the King

After her Coronation Ceremony, Yuuri was sent home by Shinou-heika.

She continued living her normal life, Field Trip to Tokyo Tower included for her Social Studies class.

But that one trip got her new friends...but a trip that changed her life forever.

Because of what she was, she kept her Escudo Sword with her as a precaution even when Princess sent them home. She wants her sword with her AT ALL TIMES.

Then came their second return after their traumatic ending, because out of guilt, they wanted to do what they could, for a crumbling country...and she asked Clef for Ruling Advice and what she should, can, cannot and shouldn't do as King because of her...situation that got the Mage baffled.

Clef gladly helped her because she helplessly admitted this was WAY over her head. She was an ordinary girl turned into a country's monarch it was driving her crazy, and that was BEFORE Princess Emeraude summoned them! She had no one to turn to about this at home.

So Clef tutors her while they deal with attacks from three invaders...pound some sense into them...put up with Hikaru's psycho half...and deal with the ultimate enemy born out of the people's fears...with Hikaru being the new Pillar and she gladly abolished the Pillar System to end the eternal tragedy of the world.

Again, she kept her sword within her magic.

Their guilt resolved, they can now move on with life.

Even at home, Yuuri can summon her sword, as a reminder she strongly wished to keep it with her, and use her magic.

At any rate, she won't tell Hikaru and Fuu.

Because they are now technically citizens of Cephiro, they retain their gained powers as Knights.

However, she is second only to Hikaru in strength now, considering...but she doesn't mind. She wants her life LESS crazy and she can use less stress, being a King in another world, dammit. At least Hikaru didn't have to deal with ruling a country!

But she wondered...if she can control WHEN she wants to come...and considering how the other world dresses...she bought herself cute dresses and shoes, and sealed it all within her magic and not her closet.

She cannot control when she wants to come even without a shred of doubt in her heart.

"Maybe there's something I'm not doing right..." she frowned. "Ah well, I better keep up my grades."

...was her thought.

One on test day, she looked at the kanji of her name.

'Enduring Lapis Lazuli'.

Lapis Lazuli is a blue gemstone. Rich blue in color.

It must have been a foreshadowing of what she would be.

The Magic Knight of Water in Cephiro. Even before Cephiro happened, when she gets angry, her magic was STILL water-oriented. Her sword and armor blue in color, as is Selece, her Rune God.

Ah well, blue is a cute color anyway.

But upon taking Swimming Lessons in P.E that day, she felt a familiar pull when classes was over and she decided to stick around just incase...

"King shows up in a swimsuit. Oh boy..."

xxx

She also ended up in a rather...hot spring?

"This could be the bath house." she thought as she rose to the surface for air.

A different bath house this time as she got out.

She remembers what the one in Shin Makoku looks like so wait...

WHERE IS SHE?!

Shuddering at appearing in enemy territory as the other world was rife with discrimination, she quickly changed her clothes with a snap of her fingers, appearing in a cute white blue with white off-shoulder frills, and white flats and matching hairband and she was instantly dry. Carefully peeking out of the bathroom doors, and carefully walked around when she heard voices by the corner,

'Don't rush, she's in a safe place.' that was Conrad, so that made her feel safe.

'I SHOULD be rushing, she came out in the bathroom!' Wolfram, her fiancee-by-accident snapped. 'She could have no clothes!'

'I'm always well-prepared, but who'll dress her? Gisela isn't here!' Gunther wailed, 'And Anissina's chasing Gwendal, again!'

Yuuri sighed.

And does Gwendal have a suitor suddenly? THAT grumpy Gwendal?!

'Worry not because I came prepared this time.' Yuuri deadpanned, showing up, startling all three of them.

'Yuuri!'

'Heika!'

Indeed, she was wearing clothes. A cute blue dress, not in her uniform this time.

'I'm glad I'm not in enemy territory when I got in a different bathroom...I freaked out you know!' Yuuri grumbled with an armfold much to the sheepish looks of the older men while Wolfram was dumbstruck. 'W-what?' she balked at the way he looked at her.

'That's a cute dress Yuuri.' ever-perceptive, her godfather who snickered at how his brother looked at her.

'Mom won't ever let me own shorts or pants. Always a dress or a skirt, I want to wear pants at least once in my life.' Yuuri drawled with an amused armfold. 'Ah well. Where ARE we if you guys deem this place safe?'

'This is Gwendal's Family Castle.' said Gunther. 'We are in Voltaire Province.'

'Gwendal's house huh...speaking, the man's hiding from his suitor huh? Must be some lady if that old grump's running away...' Yuuri marveled in amazement.

'Well...there's a story behind that...' Gunther coughed. 'Just that if she asks you to test something for her, _run_, and _don't look back_.' he warned with a shudder.

Yuuri felt she should NOT ask...

xxx

In her makeshift office...

Yuuri dealt with paperwork that she magically translated by having Wolfram touch her desk. Adamant by staying by her side? He'll have to work! When he did, she linked languages together, that they can all see japanese glowing translations.

'Whoa!' Wolfram gasped out.

'This is a rather ingenius way of learning, Yuuri.' Conrad approves! 'But for you to master magic like this so quickly...'

'Stuff happened...hey Gunther, all these are triple-checked right?' Yuuri asked worriedly. 'Some of the stuff here are asking for budget for this and that projects, nobody's skimming off the top and pocketing it by ahem, lying about budget needs?' Yuuri asked Gunther sternly whose eyes glinted with a dark smile. 'The last thing I want is conning the national funds through fraud!'

'Oh yes, we've triple-checked your majesty!' Gunther promised her. 'Gwendal is the most strict in funding allocations so we investigate these claims! They're alright for approval now.'

'Phew...and these spring tax records are lower than what's expected as noted here...are the farms doing alright in all provinces? At least taxes that came from businesses are doing OK.'

'We've had a bad drought last year, so these figures are understandably lower just for now when they normally make the cut. We can overlook things like this as long as it's a fortuituous event.'

'Mm. I'd like to visit the farms sometime and ask what everybody's doing...when's the rainy season here?'

'That's three months from now but hopefully there's no another drought this year...'

Yuuri kept asking the right questions when she sees papers that needs her approval, astonishing two brothers and her royal tutor, because she doubts everything she reads and asks their affirmation and all else, so some paperwork got smoothened out, and some on pending...for investigation.

'Phew! All done!' Yuuri sighed in jubilant glee that she can finally take a break.

'Good work, Yuuri.' said Conrad, offering tea. 'You've gotten mature when before...'

'Try dumping kinghood on a clueless teenager who learns a country's depending on her.' Yuuri deadpanned tiredly. 'With that kinda pressure worse than cramming for Entrance Exams for College, you'd crack a book too about stuff like this!'

'The rumored Exam Hell in Japan I take it?'

'Yup.'

'How hard can that be?' Wolfram asked her.

'Originally, in ancient times, these are only Japan's letters.' Yuuri showed hiragana floating in the air. 'But due to influence from another country, Japan's writing system was completely revamped, that 2000 years later, everyone's required to at least, know over 3000 words just to read a damn newspaper!' she showed kanji words she knows and they can agree that's PLENTY. 'Compared to that, language lessons in this world are easy, to say the least!'

'Ah, so that's why heika learns literacy quickly...with that kind of education, indeed, our school life here is much easier, a mere breeze...' Gunther frowned at the language education comparison via difficulty levels. 'But why the strange way of writing?'

Yuuri had to explain the mechanics of kanji.

'Oh...'

'Yup, so when we write, what may look like a short phrase to you is actually a sentence.' said Yuuri. 'In Entrance Exams, the hardest languages to score a pass in, is Language, Math, English, Social Studies and Science in that order of extreme-difficult to somewhat nasty.' she shuddered. 'Getting into High School was bad enough as it is!'

'Heee...oh yes, we have an important matter.' Gunther had a sudden 'I remember now' expression and he looked serious. 'There is unrest among the Humans, such that we may cross swords before long. In any case, they appear to be preparing for battle.'

'Preparing for battle...is their motive investigated? Number of men, weapons, supplies, assassins, magic users?' Yuuri fired away anxiously. 'Moreover what about our side in that regard? I hope it's not something as stupid as, hey, their king is a little inexperienced girl so invading is easy as pie?' she growled, annoyed at the notion. 'I admit I'm a newbie but still...'

'We have agents looking into that as well.' said Gunther grimly. 'We are waiting for word back from our spies.'

'I see...for now, diplomacy attempts while we get everything and everyone ready on the sly.' Yuuri ordered. 'I want our men well-supplied with the latest equipment, our logistics well-organized and stocked, re-training our men and field doctors! What about evacuation sites for citizens incase they attack us in our home field? Are the sites stocked with food, water, medicine and beddings? In times of peace we have to stay sharp and well-fit so incase the worst happens, we're always ready.' she instructed.

'And with Houseki around, I want our men to carry Maseki to counteract the effects its mere presence causes since only purebloods are affected while half-bloods like myself and Conrad have our human side as protection against Houseki...maseki will also help our magicians boost magic usage in human territory as a bonus so I hope that's easily accessible.'

She hasn't forgotten how Houseki affected Wolfram and his men when Adalbert used the rock on them before.

'Yes, we will arrange for those immediately.'

'Someone's shaped up I see.' Gwendal came in.

Lord Gwendal von Voltaire, oldest son of the previous Maou, with his ash-gray hair so dark that it might almost be called black and sullen blue eyes that not even the most beautiful woman can coax into good humor, totally looks like the best choice for the position of Maou. His voice is so low it sounds like it comes from his hips.

'I have to.' Yuuri snorted. 'So who's the idiot stirring up trouble?'

'It's Cavalcade.' said Gwendal.

'Cavalcade? It can't be.' said Gunther incredulously.

'No, they're using Sondergaard as a front, but Cavalcade is providing the funds. If you do not believe the intelligence provided by my spies, then you will have to do an independent investigation.' said Gwendal flatly, putting a large map on the table. He's pointing at a large continent separated by an ocean from the area that looks like Shinma Kingdom. Two of those color-differentiated countries are probably Cavalcade and Sondergaard. Judging by the first thing Gwendal said, she guessed the people of Cavalcade are planning to attack the Mazoku.

Gunther adopts a stereotypical smart-person tone.

'But how can Cavalcade have the leisure when they're so preoccupied with their pirate problem? Ships from Taurog are coming under attack, so the report of aid from Sondergaard and Hildyard is...'

'On the surface. But reports say that a percentage of the resulting damage has been returned to their country.' Gwendal quipped.

'So it's a make-believe piracy while secretly funneling goods for more funding and access to resources?' Yuuri frowned.

'Seems like it.'

'Getting ready for war when clearly strapped for cash if they're resorting to piracy, are they idiots? They'll bleed themselves dry.'

'Not our problem but theirs, but we cannot overlook what they're planning.' said Gwendal. 'So your war orders I overheard by chance are on the go?'

'As much as it pains me to approve that, yes.' Yuuri grunted. 'I want everyone well-prepared, in good shape and well-stocked so nobody catches us with our pants down.' she ordered. 'Regarding on who goes, I want all men around Wolfram's age under Militia Status to protect the cities, towns and villages while the older men will go to the front lines with us if war really can't be avoided if Diplomacy went crappy. The Militia has an important task...protect the women and children, and build well-hidden evacuation sites with nearby access to water.'

Then Yuuri took a deep breath before exhaling.

'And do we have assassins?'

'...we do.' Wolfram gulped at the question.

'Sometimes to avoid war, books back home said cut the head off...that means we cut off the warmongers and those who control the funding or provides the money. Deal with the competent army generals as well so idiots will be put on authority and idiot leaders often make bad decisions in the battlefield, stuff we can exploit.'

'That can be arranged.' Gwendal said with a nod.

'So many stuff to do, so little time...and who's our diplomat?'

'No one for now, but we also have something in mind.' said Gwendal. 'We the Mazoku possess a legendary weapon which cannot be wielded by any save His Majesty the Maou. It is said that once invoked, it has enough power to burn the world to nothing...though in reality maybe a small city...in any case, the fact remains that it is a legendary sword: the mightiest ultimate weapon in all of history. Even its name...'

'An ultimate weapon?'

'Yes, Your Majesty, it is the sword Morgif.'

'The last to invoke it was His Majesty Basilio von Rochefort, the Maou eight generations ago. It was later lost, its whereabouts unknown until just recently when it was discovered in Van de Via Island.'

'Van de Via?!' Gunther squawked. 'Isn't that a barbaric place with a volcano in there?!'

Yuuri looked thoughtful.

Volcano = Onsen!

Eureka!

'Awww don't be like that, Gunther~' Yuuri purred in delight. 'My kind back home are fond of volcanoes, however dangerous.'

'That's crazy! Why on earth are your countrymen fond of volcanoes?!' Wolfram sputtered out.

'Three words! Hot Spring Baths!' Yuuri squealed in glee. 'After this retrieval mission we can enjoy ourselves! Besides, despite the danger a volcano brings, the ash they produce causes lands to become fertile so no doubt Van de Via is a fertile island but nobody knows that. It has farmland potential...'

'That's in a human territory.' Gwendal quipped. 'Let's not tell them of that agricultural boon, shall we?' he said with a snort.

'Oh yes, one final question before we get everything done Gwendal...what is Miss Anissina's occupation?' that got the men choking in fear.

'She's an inventor...but her inventions always explode so they're short-lived...' said Conrad weakly.

'I have a task for her.' said Yuuri. 'I want her to invent a well-functioning water purifier. A gigantic machine that purifies salt water from the ocean into clean, potable water for farming and consumption, as well as creating salt for food flavoring and food preservation. We can't just rely on wells and rivers after all and in times of drought, seas and oceans have plenty to spare.' she said. 'That is an important mission she must take seriously and plan the design carefully so it doesn't blow up. Money doesn't grow on trees, please emphasize that.' she told them seriously before looking mischevous. 'Besides, that means with her so busy, you guys don't have to hide from her anymore.'

'Heika!' the men choked out.

'We leave tomorrow morning after breakfast. Anything else to worry about?'

'None for now and these,' said Gunther, giving Gwendal a thick wad of paper. 'Is for Gwendal to look over. Pending Investigation since they're somewhat concerning.'

Gwendal twitched.


	2. Unusual Musings

Unusual Musings

After the meeting, they left Yuuri's makeshift office as the older men went to work, while Wolfram stayed by Yuuri.

'Haaah, sitting on a desk for hours is exhausting even if you're just sitting down!' Yuuri moaned as she stretched.

'But at least its a well-done job Yuuri, you're thorough.' Wolfram marveled in awe at her. She was never like this before, often relying on Gunther before signing anything. There are dangers in signing paperwork while illiterate but now she can translate on her own with magic!

'I have to be, because newbie monarchs are often underestimated, thinking they can cheat their way through things they want while a newly-appointed king is still naive and ignorant, and they exploit that shamelessly, so I learned how to carefully read documents for hidden meanings. And getting one over a newbie monarch means they can swindle a whole country so I had a good friend back home teach me to be savvy enough to detect attempts of subtle fraud, swindling and forgery.' Yuuri explained before grinning. 'That'll teach them a lesson that they can't swindle me!' she cackled. Wolfram shook his head in bemusement.

'Oh yeah, Yuuri, where's that golden bird brooch I gave you?' Wolfram asked in concern as he just remembered about the brooch he gave her...and she's not wearing it!

'Its in my room back home.' said Yuuri. 'Owning gold jewelry in my world is a blatant display of wealth which in turn attracts criminals to you, wanting that piece of gold for money, so I hide it. I can't wear it in there but as I have no control when Shinou-heika gets me, I can't always carry it around to wear here.' she pointed out.

'Heee...it's that dangerous to wear there?'

'Yup while here it's safer.' Yuuri sighed. 'Japan is an expensive country after all...renting an apartment space the size of that maou bedroom in Shin Makoku is about 10 silver coins already, so those strapped for cash will do anything for money.'

'WHAT?!'

Last Wolfram checked, an apartment rent here for a week's stay was 15 iron coins. For a commoner that's somewhat-affordable...and food should be extremely cheap!

'...and food for a month for one person is 3 silver, and miscellaneous expenses can cost more than the rent of an apartment. Tuition Fee for school? 5 gold a year. Our economy sucks.' Yuuri sighed. 'I can't lose that brooch or you'll get mad, so I hide it!'

Wolfram was mortified with the costs.

'You should live here permanently, your country's highway robbery!' Wolfram howled in horror. 'If I'm going to spend gold, it'd be for mansion renovations and luxurious clothes and jewelry, not a small-sized apartment and tuition fees!' he cried in freak-out.

'Oi, I haven't completed school yet and too underage to leave home! I'm only fifteen years old!' Yuuri snarked back. 'So what do nobles do for fun anyway when there's nothing to do?'

xxx

Yozak Gurrier was whistling.

He eavesdropped on the young queen during her doing paperwork.

A fifteen years old girl.

He was apprehensive at first. Young rulers are prone to becoming puppets.

To prevent that happening this time around, Shinou had assigned Celi's sons and Gunther to watch over the development of the new King and make sure she develops right.

Conrad said she was terrified and played the denial card, but will not hesitate to do the right thing however unconventional. She was afraid because this job fell on her lap and this was way over her head, a justified fear. Considering what kind of people Yuuri's parents and brother was, she grew up in a good home that taught her what's right.

But now, judging by her 'office time', she doubted all her paperwork and asked questions, and spotted things that needed Pending Investigation...and when War was brought up, she has rough ideas and asked for preparation incase 'the worst' happens. She did bring up a good point about Houseki...and gave Anissina an important job.

He'll need further observation before he throws his lot in with her.

xxx

Wolfram was more interested in Yuuri's sudden developments.

It was on his mind after he took her to town to show her around as yes nobles have activities, but its available depending on season and hunting season was way over before she first came to Shin Makoku and considering she's an unknown entity, she can't just join the Ladies' Salon, an event for noble girls and royal daughters to gather. Speaking, Yuuri should brush up on her feminine skills, not just desk work...

She matured and showed interest in ruling now, if only because she knew a lot of people are counting on her. Before she was so whiny about everything and grudgingly did anything because she was in denial about her new situation for very justified reasons as Conrad had to carefully explain her upbringing so they should be patient with her. They were in a Culture-Clash situation. They should not dump everything all at once, and slowly ease her into the job as they ensure her growth to become a good King.

'Hey Yuuri, about what you said earlier...' Wolfram recalled something. 'About the Houseki.'

'Ah, that? Last time Adalbert used that on you and your men, you guys clearly hurt a lot and how much, I have no idea but your state back then worried me.' that was why she had the idea? Wolfram never knew she thought of how it affected him and his men...he was what first came to mind when she wanted defense against houseki?!

Something within him warmed up. A warmth of...happiness? That Yuuri cares for him. They're engaged, but still...

'I have no idea how much it hurts you guys yet Adalbert seems fine...it seems training for tolerance is possible, considering he can touch the stupid stone with no ill effect and even use its powers. It takes years to gain resistance to it to the point it no longer affected him, making him a formidable opponent. He discovered such a possibility and we have yet to prove my hypothesis unless we catch and ask him, but sadly we have no such ability. Moreover, are the people willing to go as far as he did, is the question which is why I want our military equipped with Maseki for a counter. We have no time for Houseki Tolerance Training and that's the sad truth.'

'I see...' Wolfram then took a deep breath. 'And if you wanna know how much it hurt...' Yuuri stiffened, as if, bracing herself... 'Let's just say words can't do it justice.' said Wolfram, making a face at the memory. 'But it affects our maryoku to cause that level of pain.'

'Oh...' Yuuri deflated. 'But how long did it wear off?'

'It depends on how strong we are in maryoku to wash the houryoku off.' said Wolfram. 'Mine's a few minutes, while some of my men took hours, and one took three days.'

'W-wow...' Yuuri shuddered. 'Hey Wolfram, in theory how much does Maseki cost?'

'It depends on size like any jewel, really.' said Wolfram. 'The cheapest is about the size of that stone Weller gave you that costs 500 silver. The most expensive being 10000 gold the size of a head.'

'We can afford charm-sized maseki then, assuming we have money left from giving all our men latest equipment and buying tools...I'm gonna talk to the adults later tonight about the costs and I hope we can make it, not to mention getting approval from other feudal lords...otherwise we're banking our hopes on a freaking mythical sword of all things. It'll show the world that we're THAT desperate. Its also a sign of weakness, not victory. If anyone goes past the, 'hey, the mazoku have an ultimate weapon' and studied our military and resources through spying, they'll see what I feel and make fun of us. So hopefully we can walk the talk!'

xxx

'...her majesty brought up a good point.' said Gwendal as after a long talk that dinner, Yuuri went to bed with Wolfram.

'We can make the costs using the National Treasury. But barely.' Gunther told Gwendal, Conrad and Yozak who was posing as a maid. 'After that, no more projects at least until next year's tax time. But I never dreamed that relying on Morgif is also a sign of weakness.' he said fretfully in dismay. 'He was supposed to be a symbol of victory!'

'Well to be fair Sir von Kleist, we ARE desperate.' Yozak snorted. 'Her majesty has no idea we barely survived war last time and nobody told her about the war. Our numbers are very thin in the ranks now. To avoid war, Assassination may be our best bet. Assassinating the competents and patrons...and sabotaging supplies.'

'Let's do both.' said Conrad. 'Discreetly of course. By causing a large number of setbacks, that should buy us time this year or two if we're lucky.'

'Right...so boat trip for Van de Via tomorrow?'

'Yes. You be our shadow incase we get in trouble.' said Conrad. 'Yuuri and I will go tomorrow as uncle and niece under false names. Well, we DO have that relationship because her father made me her godfather...'

xxx

Bedroom...

After Yuuri took out her closet out of her magic just to put them in a suitcase, she changed into her sleep wear.

'H-hey! Put a shirt on!' Yuuri squeaked, red-faced, utterly stunned and VERY AFFECTED at the sight of her shirtless fiancee. Sure when they dressed for bed, there's a screen between them. She wore a nightgown just to fit in the culture here and here he is, shirtless with just bottoms?! 'Aren't you cold?! It's still spring and we're by the ocean!'

So she says, but a hot shirtless guy in front of a teenage girl was a VERY UNFAIR weaponized attack on a poor girl's hormonal psyche.

Wolfram smirked. As a soldier training was fierce, but the rewards are well worth it.

One of those rewards, was THIS as Yuuri damn near tripped while turning around so quick and scampered to their bed and buried herself in the blankets.

'You'll see this a lot often as we're engaged, Yuuri.' he snorted as he went to bed and crawled under the sheets to further tease her by grabbing her and pulling her close.

'Eek!'

'You have the right to see the goods so don't be shy~'

'You gotta be kidding me!'

xxx

Next morning...

Yuuri woke up to Wolfram's chest in front of her face and his chin on her head.

She slowly teleported away from him, red-faced. 'Oi, wake up now, breakfast is in ten minutes.' she said, embarrassed. Wolfram opened one eye to see that she's still red-faced.

Jeez, just how are girls in her country brought up, if they're very affected by a shirtless male?

Besides, under that formless gown that didn't show her shape, Wolfram could feel how trim she was last night. Slender arms and legs, all trimmed muscle, and a very flat stomach with trim waist - something all girls strive for using corsets to have tiny waists, yet Yuuri was naturally flat and trim there au natural. She also has a modest size when his cousin can smother his face by now if she was as bold as his mom.

Somehow, he finds what Yuuri naturally was attractive.

She never conforms nor forces herself to reach standards just to fit in society and just being herself.

He asked her why she never did when most girls would try their darndest to achieve standards of female form when he was done teasing her last night that also doubled as courting.

'Huh? That's something pervert men decide!' Yuuri gasped out, affronted. 'They fantasize all women should be hourglass figures with big breasts and hips, subtly made that known without who wants it done being known so girls thinking it's standards do it unknowingly playing into hands of a couple perverts! I should just be myself, and I say screw them! I'll be who I want to be!'

'You're very slim with nice legs though.'

'Having a specific national diet and doing gymnastics and ballet all your life can do that to your legs.'

So her strong, trim legs were a result of those two sports he knew nothing about...and what national diet?

Come to think of it, at dinner...

Yuuri took out a wooden jar after asking a maid for hot water instead of cold for drinks that dinner...then with a scoop, took out green powder from said jar, with Conrad recognizing it as tea.

Aren't tea supposed to be brownish in color? Her tea is green! That, and she had been specific back in Shin Makoku...bread the size of a hand, and taking bites out of small plates she requested for. There's always a bowl of soup, small plates for meat, vegetables, and that yellow fluffy thing. She eats that every. single. day when there's luxury fare around her. Every single meal time, her meal is always in such a format!

Could that be the national diet she's talking about?

After breakfast that morning...

'Alright Yuuri, let's dye your hair. It has to be in human colors.' said Conrad as Gunther showed her a booklet on human hair and eye coloring, all of which were dull, subdued colors.

'What dull colors...don't tell me only mazoku can have vibrant coloring?!' she asked with a deadpan stare at the booklet.

'Exactly.'

'Sheesh...fiiiine.' with a snap of her fingers, her hair and eyes were a satisfyingly dull brown.

'Oh my! Skilled usage of magic already!' Gunther marveled.

"She learns quick when before it's the spirit of the Maou possessing her to use magic." Gwendal thought, astounded. 'Is that a real change, or...'

'Illusions.' Yuuri explained. 'I put a magic field on my hair and eyes that will make anyone who looks at me see what I want them to see. It's impossible to change what we are biologically unless we have the genetics for that.' she said. 'I do know I have brown coloring in my blood because of mom but due to what I am, it just won't darn work because this double-black biology stops the changes so I have no choice but use illusions!' she whined about that too.

'Mm.'

'That could bypass our need for dying our hair and using contacts all the time when venturing into human lands.' Gunther looked thoughtful. Hair dye and contact lenses were things Conrad brought from another world. A technology they adopted for themselves for infiltration missions...and others.

'Well, it's the mazoku pride in your blood Yuuri.' said Wolfram. 'No double-black worth their salt would want to be anything else when black is an auspicious color, a symbol of a mazoku's powerful inborn maryoku.'

Maryoku, Yuuri thought, an inborn trait in the soul of a mazoku wherein you are born with a specific level of strength. There's no changing it by increase in power. All you can do is train to refine control and casting of magic. It's like that anime with magic circuits. Mazoku with great power take pride in being purebloods, marrying only those with great power in hopes of stronger descendants.

Not only that, the stronger you are, the slower you physically age. To the point that they are actually five times older than they look, while those with no maryoku like Conrad, can only live a thousand years while those with powerful magic live longer than that, depending on the strength of their magic.

That was what Gunther taught her and he who appeared old enough to be a friggin' uncle, was already 800 years old. Gwendal was almost 260, but stress made him have a lot of wrinkles, making him look older than he should.

And her fiancee?

80 and looks 15.

Wow.

For Yuuri, she must make a choice one day like all half-bloods do. To embrace which bloodline come adult age of 16 solely for half-bloods only. When a choice is made, the half that wasn't chosen, will be taken over by the chosen half. Technically becoming purebloods themselves. Technically. But the reminder that they were half, was their hair and eye color. A symbol of their heritage.

But for Yuuri and mazoku with hair color close to black, their children are always born with magic, lineage-be-damned. There were rare examples but they do exist. Especially her, the Maou who was a very unique case.

Sighing, she and Conrad went to do last-minute packing, before leaving.

'A boat trip huh? Never rode a ship in my life before, this is exciting!' Yuuri giggled. 'I only ever rode bullet trains for commute!'

'Well, where you're in it's mostly a landlocked area easily gotten to by bullet trains.' Conrad smiled. 'For such travel modes to exist...I once proposed such technology but building the rails all around our country alone will require a century's worth of gold coins.' Conrad shuddered at the idea of spending so much. 'Not feasible. The council nearly vomited blood when we computed the costs. As far as I could go, it was deluxe yachts and cruise ships, as well as battleships from the time of 18th century.'

'Seriously?!'

'Yes. Thanks to what I brought here from earth, the humans just had another excuse to resent us mazoku...if only they knew I got that technology from humans from another world!' Conrad snorted. 'The irony!'

'What about the fuel?' Yuuri asked. 'I doubt there's gas or coal here!'

'I used Hydroelectric Energy so that ship never runs out. Ecological, no?' Conrad beamed. 'Earth may have nice things, but at the cost of too much pollution in turn. I have to avoid that.'

'Heee...by the way, I never saw nor met this Miss Anissina...'

'She got the proposal from me because Gwendal absolutely refused to see her.' Conrad snickered. 'She was overjoyed by the huge project, and went home to Karbelnikoff Province to get working.'

'I see, so Gwendal's mostly relaxing now yes?'

'He reckons its the calm before the storm.'

'Poor guy.'

'Indeed.'

xxx

Upon getting to their ship...

'...weren't we supposed to be on some cheap ship to go incognito?' Yuuri croaked out as she and Conrad stared, wide-eyed. Behind them, Yozak mentally snickered. 'What part of this, is incognito to you?' she blurted incredulously.

Conrad and Yuuri gaped as the name of the ship on their tickets, was Hildeyard...and before them is a medieval luxury liner equivalent. By this world's human standards as mazoku still have the latest tech courtesy of Earth.

'Gunther messed up...so much for inconspiciousness.' Conrad sighed in resignated weariness. 'This is a high-class passenger ship for the rich!'

'That dummy, does he think that I, a middle-class commoner in upbringing who became a king, can't survive on normal ships?! I can be more than fine on even a rowboat as long as it doesn't have a hole! He spoils me too much!'

'We'll discuss that after this job.' Conrad reassured her. 'Let's go in anyway. What's done is done. We should find other reasons WHY he picked this ship instead of what we planned on.' and they went in, carrying their luggage.

'...my bag is so heavy, what did Gunther put in my suitcase, rocks and bricks?' Yuuri wheezed as she had trouble lifting hers. 'I only packed five dresses and two shoes so I have room for souvenirs in this big lug!' she gasped out as after Conrad got her suitcase off the carriage, it was suddenly too heavy for her!

Conrad frowned as he lifted her suitcase.

'I think its more than that...we better go to our room quickly...'


	3. What a Field Trip

What a Field Trip

The reason Yuuri's suitcase was heavy, was because Wolfram was in there, to their disbelief.

'A stowaway...' Yuuri sweatdropped. 'If you wanted to come, you could have just said so!'

'Gwendal wants me to go back home to the castle, but like hell I'll leave you alone on this ship!' Wolfram grunted with an armfold. 'I saw the program pamphlet on Gunther's seat earlier and there's a dance party where you switch partners so Weller can't always be with you!' he fumed. 'Like hell I'll let some commoner touch you!'

'...a dance party?' Yuuri blinked blankly, looking at Conrad for explanation.

'Oh yes, Gunther did give me a special package this morning...that could be our dancing outfits.' Conrad mused thoughtfully. 'That could be why he saddled us with a luxury liner.'

'...a little warning would be nice...' Yuuri sighed as the ship began moving and Wolfram's looking sick... 'Er?'

'He's not good with ships.' Conrad rummaged around to find a nice bowl and put it by the bedside.

'Ah, seasickness...'

'For now, we must explore the ship for potential escape routes later incase anything goes wrong.'

'So what are our false identities?'

'My identity is your uncle Clark Gibson and you're my niece Louise Gibson.'

'And you?' Yuuri asked Wolfram who was utterly helpless in bed.

'Lance Parker.'

'Yup, common enough to get by! We'll be back soon OK?'

After memorizing the ship, they spent their time in their cabin where there's two...double beds. Perhaps Gunther's idea of making sure Yuuri still has a king-sized bed in her room somehow, but that just enabled Wolfram to share her bed as usual, and Conrad was on another bed.

Yuuri took out knitting needles and yarn out of her luggage to entertain herself with, and an MP3 player.

'Oh, you have that on you, Yuuri?'

'Yes, I made sure it's waterproof, considering how Shinou gets me here!' Yuuri pouted. 'I found a way to charge it with magic so I'll never be bored!' she played a rock song.

'Is that your language?' Wolfram asked her. The singer was male with a rich, smooth vibrato voice. Is that her type?!

'Yep, it's Japanese...but translating the songs into mazoku is still under works since I haven't mastered it yet...'

'You're a fan of Gackt?' Conrad asked. 'Is he still with Malice Mizer Band?'

'Nope, he's gone on his own solo act now.' just how much japanese culture did Conrad study exactly?!

'That song is new, I know his songs with that band...so that song is him going solo since?'

'Yes. He left the band in year 1999, you're long gone from Earth since after I was born probably.'

'Heee, how many do you got there?'

'Some. You're a fan of his songs too huh?'

Wolfram discovered that these two, have something in common. A fan of some singer in Earth. But what kind of name is Malice Mizer?! Even if he can't understand the songs, he can acknowledge what good music they've got and singers thankfully have good voices...and Yuuri DOES charge her music player with her own magic!

xxx

On their second night, was the dance party.

However!

'T-this is...' Yuuri was appalled as while some people were dancing and music playing by a band, people literally throw scraps and bones onto the floor! 'We're gonna dance on a filthy floor?!' the floor was littered with food scraps which means, for women, hems of their dresses get stained with scraps.

'Well, this is human custom, gaman shinasai.'

'Gross...even humans back home dine neater than this on classy hotel ballrooms...yuck.' said Yuuri, grossed out.

'Well, this is cultural experience, Yuuri.' Wolfram smirked, an arm around her waist. 'As a royal, you'll be doing plenty of these in the future!'

'Have fun kids!' Conrad called out as Wolfram led Yuuri to dance.

'Humans in her world dance on clean floors? That's nice.' Yozak who was dressed like a woman commented.

'Yes. Their parties are a lot cleaner too. I never dreamed there can be clean human dance parties until my mission happened.'

They watched as on the dance floor, the engaged pair danced as Yuuri was eyed on by young gentlemen due to her looks and simplicity in her appearance that also exuded its own form of elegance while women around them are over-the-top in dresses and hairstyles with accessories, as well as make-up.

However, to Wolfram's chagrin, partners must switch every ten minutes...

'Grrr, stupid rules, are dance parties here always like this?' Wolfram complained to Conrad. He barely avoided having to dance with another girl on the 9th round.

'Dance Parties on ships are always like this.' said Conrad, dancing with a rather beefy woman in Wolfram's opinion. He thought Conrad's strike range is TOO wide! 'Don't worry about Louise, nobody will try anything weird as long as we're all on the deck.'

'Humph!'

'Someone's jealous~' Yozak teased Wolfram.

'Shuddup!'

'Well, you kids have dinner now, we just had ours.'

xxx

Dinner was one way to spend time with Yuuri.

'Food is nice at least, I can see why people keep coming back for more.' Yuuri mused as she keeps her scraps on HER plate, and chucks it to the ocean when its full.

'You had to clean our area though with you-know-what.' said Wolfram wryly.

'Well, eat while you can before our ship moves again, you can't keep anything down there when you're seasick.' said Yuuri in concern. 'That's the same as not having eaten anything for one whole day yesterday.'

Suddenly, Conrad approached them looking grim.

'This way, hurry.' he said seriously so they followed him calmly to their cabin.

And so...

'Yuuri, Wolfram...'

The ship shook violently as if having crashed into something.

'I spotted a pirate ship ten minutes away from us back then so I took you out calmly to avoid causing a ruckus. Hide in the closet, now!' he said urgently, so Wolfram dragged Yuuri to a closet with him.

'But what about you?' Yuuri gasped out worriedly.

'I'll find us a means to escape. Do NOT open the door for anyone unless it's me!' and he closed the closet on them.

'...and I thought pirates are an extinct species...'

'Not exactly.' said Wolfram. 'Any boat travel risks _this_.' he said. 'Yuuri, if this room is invaded, always stay behind me, OK? I doubt magic can work here right now...'

'Iya, it works. I can fight too.' said Yuuri, regulating her powers. Moreover as an honorary Cephirian being a Magic Knight, the nature of her magic is 'mind over matter'. What she wants to happen **will happen**. 'I'll secure us a boat without having to lift a finger. That way Conrad can focus on surviving. Pirates are chump change compared to his skill so we can go to the island together.' she said as her eyes glowed in magic as to one 'Miss Biceps' who was actually their shadow companion to her surprise, she ensured nothing happens to HIM as he secures their escape route. 'I hadn't known Gwendal had an agent shadow us, an agent only Conrad knew about...I'm helping him by diverting the pirates to the deck so he can get us that boat. After that boat, we're next, and when he launches a signal, Conrad will jump overboard. That's their plan!'

'Until then we're stuck here until the shadow gets us?'

'That's what they have in mind...I'm also diverting the pirates away from our room, so I can get changing out of this inconvenient outfit and you get our stuff.'

'Right.' they left the closet. Yuuri cast illusions as there's no changing screen to hide from and they used the facilities, while waiting for their pick up. Soon, Miss Biceps came, dressed as a traveler this time.

'You guys got ready somehow, come on!'

'Yuuri, is this our guy?' Wolfram asked her as they ran away.

'Yes, I'd know his face, he danced with me remember?'

'Hoho! I'm Yozak, Yozak Gurrier heika.' Yozak introduced himself. 'We really need to get out of here as this ship is toast...some asshats sabotaged the engines and killed off the engineers who ran the ship. The surviving crew who didn't live long let out mayday sparks - the red kind for Pirate Attack. Shimaron Patrols will be here soon and they have a tendency to carry Houseki.' he cast a pointed look at Wolfram. 'That's why we gotta go. So what's the distraction in mind so Weller-kyo can jump ship?'

'I got just the thing. I have it planned out.' Yuuri grinned, 'Just that after I do it and let Conrad jump safely, I'll be useless for hours. I do have hostages to rescue and a flashy distraction to do and don't distract me until we extracted Conrad.'

'Gotcha!'

xxx

On the Lifeboat where they got onto...

'How many days till we get to Van De Via?'

'Four.'

'I'm getting us bread and fruit, and a spare knife to last us that far before the rescue and jugs of wine.' Yuuri's eyes glowed and a small pile of bread and sweet fruit appeared on their boat, and six bottles of wine. 'Row us to the side near the deck.' Yozak did so by himself as Wolfram fell sick again as Yuuri began using up a lot of Maryoku.

They heard a lovely singer sing. A song only mermaids can sing, as the water rose in front of the ship, to form a well-formed curvaceously-beautiful female water monster with wings. It was so lifelike in construct one can clearly see its beautiful features and it's glow-in-the-dark with white light even, and grabbed the pirate ship with one hand much to the freakout of the pirates on it and the captive women and young children returned to the deck inside water bubbles. The female monster then arched backwards as if inhaling deeply and the remaining pirates on the ship were taken and swallowed down to its bulging pregnant belly, pregnant with the pirates' ship and a few more pirates, and Conrad was guided to the side where he can jump safely while everyone was distracted by the monster and the song. He slowly floated down and landed on his feet.

'Yosh, let's row quickly to the back, we're taking a long cut, Weller-kyo!' Yozak quickly tossed Conrad a spare oar as Yuuri made her construct dive underwater with the ship and pirates it swallowed, but so many sacks of money appeared in turn on their boat!

'Phew, good job Yuuri.' Wolfram wheezed out as he caught Yuuri who was out cold and slowly got them both seated.

'By the time Shimaron Patrol gets here, we're long gone! Ohhh yeah!' Yozak cheered as they rowed away fast.

'That's a well-made distraction...I could have sworn it's just fireworks.' said Conrad, glancing at Yozak.

'Ain't distracting enough.' Yozak shook his head. 'Missy was flashier and bought us time. The fireworks from earlier were useless.'

'Ah...'

Thanks to Yuuri's foresight, they have plenty of food to last them until Van de Via Island. She rested enough to use an actual watery roof to shield them from much of the sun and Yuuri could only drink water by taking balls of water she took from the ocean and cleaned it of salt and impurities for drinking and provided light at night using her own pendant as a medium which she put in the middle of their boat.

As for relief? She had to float them over the ocean, everyone else looks away while whoever needs, will do their business. Upon arrival to the island, Yuuri cured Wolfram's seasickness.

Yozak then led them into a hideaway path into the island, but closest to the volcano, all the while singing some cheesy love song.

'Phew! How can you be used to uphill trekking?' Wolfram gasped out.

'School Field Trips, Festivals held in shrines with crazy stairways and a little something else.' Yuuri smiled. 'Uphill treks are easy-peasy! Perhaps our military should train in stamina by running up and downhill sometime.'

'Oh, come on!' Wolfram whined, making Yuuri giggle. Conrad chuckled at that.

'Heeeey! There's a rest stop here!' Yozak called out, much to collective relief.

They paid for some snacks at the rest stop as they got offered red tea and chocolate chip cookies. Glad to know there's chocolate in this world!

As they rested, Yuuri was charging her MP3 player with her powers.

It was a peaceful break.

After leaving the stop after an hour of rest...

'Say guys, are rest stops all cookies and tea in this world?' Yuuri wondered. 'For exhausted people like us a mild savory light soup with spices would have been ideal and herbal tea. But it's very sweet chocolate cookies and sweet red tea I could swear I'm drinking _sugar_. I barely tasted the chocolate in those cookies.' she said with a disgusted grimace. 'We're gonna suffer for that later in the bathroom.'

'Pretty much if we're only staying for a couple hours.' said Yozak. 'If we stay a day, we'll get a nice meal till dinner time. They tend to be a bit pricey, considering rest stops are always far from towns for shopping.' he explained. 'It's sickeningly sweet, but that'll subside us till we get to the mountains.' he grinned. 'If we walk it off, the suffer part won't happen.'

'Alright, I hope so...I don't think this world invented toilet paper yet.'

'Toilet paper? What's that?'

'Its a roll of white soft paper made out of cotton.' Conrad explained for those not-in-the-know. 'Her countrymen use toilet paper for clean-up after toilet business. Good for long trips for use on ahem, improvised outhouses.'

'Wow, we could use that.'

The trip took several hours, way past lunch time.

But when they got there, it's like a scene of hell!

'...wow, what happened here?' Wolfram croaked out as they stared at the scary cave springs.

'Well, Morgif happened.' said Yozak. 'From our intel, people say about 15 years ago or 16, they forgot but its within that timeline, a ball of fire struck the springs and turned the water into lava.' he explained. 'Anyone who touches the water gets cursed. So locals avoid this place when before its a nice bathing retreat that even the caves are a good swimming place. The springs are good enough for kids your age to swim in comfort too but now, nada. This is the only lead we've got.'

'Heee...' Yuuri touched the water to do psychometry.

'Whoa/Yuuri!' her retinue cried as Yuuri recklessly dipped her hand in.

But she's unharmed.

'...you guys better not look.' Yuuri told them, standing up. 'I'm gonna strip.'

'Huh?! Why?!' the loudest was Wolfram in protest.

'Morgif is here, and has a preference for skinny dipping Kings.' said Yuuri with a grimace. 'Anyone else however, will get burned and swollen from contact with the water but prolonged exposure causes heart-stopping a.k.a death regardless of if they're clothed or naked. If I jumped in with clothes, I'll get hurt so I have to go bare.' she explained. 'The curse will end if we take Morgif out of the water. This cursed water is most likely his method of defense against the unqualifieds wanting to wield him to become Maou whether or not they're chosen by Shinou.'

'Is that right...'

'Yup, so don't peek until I come back and get dressed OK? This is awkward as it is!' Yuuri sputtered with a red face. She then took out her MP3 player and gave it to Conrad. 'Here. Turn around, now!' they did so awkwardly as Yuuri stripped herself naked, and jumped in.

'Well, I guess we play music to pass the time.' said Conrad, pressing the play button. He could read Japanese after all and it began playing a song.

1! 2! 3! 4!

'Wow, what a way to pass time. Missy's considerate.' Yozak whistled, impressed. Once the intro was done playing, Conrad sang along in their language for translation.

_You're never around during the crucial times._  
_You're not sure what's important to you, so someone is sick of you!_  
_You only chase after those novelties. 'where did the good ol days go'?_  
_You've got no right to complain about that!_

_Reflected in your eyes, my smile doesn't return anything_  
_you've known that from the start!  
(excerpts from GACKT: Mirror)_

They weren't bored waiting for Yuuri. Conrad sings along while translating.

xxx

Inside the caves...

Yuuri left golden markers using magic, so she can navigate her way out as she explored, swimming mostly underwater with her pendant as a makeshift flashlight, with her face inside a bubble with a water tube of air leading to the surface so she can breathe.

"This job is pretty fun! Teehee!" she giggled as after several days of being so sweaty, she can finally bathe and on the job too! The warm water deals with the oils on her skin and hair, so she'll really be fresh and invigorated upon going out again.

She found Morgif after an hour and half of hunting and why is it pleased to see her? 'Its not like you know I'm the Maou straight away...right?' she croaked out as Morgif who had the face of the Ghostface from that Scream movie made delighted kissy faces at her. 'Guess you know alright!' she grinned. 'Let's get out of here!' and she teleported back out, in time to hear an Aqua Timez song, but damn, Conrad sings well! He's singing 'Alonez'.

Once he's done did she let her presence be known.

'Wow, you should sing more often!' they got startled with that. 'You're damn good!'

'Yuuri!' Wolfram cried, glad she's back and thankfully dressed. 'You were there already?'

'Halfway into that last song.' Yuuri chuckled. 'I never heard Conrad sing, it was way too good to pass up.' she said.

'Well, someone has to translate the gibberish.' Conrad chuckled.

'We were treated to an hour long concert while you're gone, missy.' said Yozak. 'He even sang the cutesy ones you've got.' he grinned with wagging eyebrows. Wolfram was snickering, but even he can admit Conrad can sing. But Yuuri's choices of songs, really...

'How should I know they're cutesy?' Conrad pouted, pink-faced. 'It's your turn Yuuri.'

'Eh?! Me, sing?!'

'Your turn.'

'Muuuu!'


	4. Dreaming of the Past

Dreaming of the Past

On the way to town which took them till next MORNING...

Yuuri sang for her boys until they memorized all songs she has in her MP3. Well, the ones Conrad hasn't sung yet. And all songs in her MP3 don't mention anything technology-related words or jargon. Their sustenance till then was pure water, and whatever she kills as they have no bows and arrows, but its the boys doing the cooking.

'You're used to sleeping leaning on trees.' Yozak noted as Yuuri was leaning on a tree, using her right knee as support for her own arm like any guy would do.

'And rocks.' Yuuri added.

'Rocks?! You can sleep on rocks?!' Wolfram squawked. 'Just what kind of upbringing did you get?!'

'Fufu, that has nothing to do with how I grew up...if any, my parents doted on their two kids. We got life's comforts and stuff teenagers could ever want without spoiling us rotten. I recognized Parental Care Mistakes when I met peers at school who too, are spoiled, but with rotten personalities while my brother and I grew up humble with life...knowing that stuff we enjoyed growing up, was thanks to our parents' hard work, so they emphasized us doing well in school so our future kids can enjoy the lives we lived too.' Yuuri explained. 'Again, living in Japan is expensive. Dad's job was a high-level Banker and that means his salary a month was 20 gold coins equivalent here.'

That's one high salary!

'However, my ability to sleep roughly like this...happened a month after Shinou took me home from my Coronation Ceremony...I'll show it all to you in a dream tonight...and it ended terribly until we managed to absolve ourselves of guilt by getting an ending we all wanted.'

And that night, it happened indeed...they dreamed and watched from a person's third point of view considering they're watching her memories. However, unknown to her current company, Gwendal and Gunther were dreaming of it too.

Dreaming of another world, where they saw Yuuri's past in all angles. Yuuri had created and prepared this dream for them and keeps it stored in her magic.

To think they dreamed what was potentially days' worth in a few hours of sleep.

And as Yuuri lampshaded in her dream, they were forced to kill an innocent person who suffered centuries' worth of loneliness, that she latched onto a person who understood her despair and grief. How she longed to be loved by people who truly loved her yet the price was Cephiro itself. Centuries of loneliness made her crave for Zagato that as soon as she thought of nothing but Zagato, Cephiro crumbled apart.

But while it was a Pillar's duty to pray and nothing else, all this could have been avoided, if family and friends never left her. She could have gotten spiritual support from them to bear the cruel burden but nooo. Morons left her all alone, thinking they'll distract her from her duty, thinking her duty as Pillar was more important than someone who was once their daughter, sister and friend. And nobody can last long in loneliness, eating away at a pillar's sanity. Nobody realized what they have done. So was it surprising that as soon as someone who showed that they truly understood her pain and cared for 'Emeraude' not 'the Pillar', she latched on them so fast, hoping she won't be alone anymore?

If all else, this is the entire fault of both the Pillar System, and those close to her that they drove her to this. That it's either Cephiro or Zagato, the man who loved her enough to try and kill the girls she summoned to protect her from the killers she summoned to kill and end her as a pillar? That they killed two innocent people because and before all is lost?

As a result of their first experience, they could bring themselves to look others in the eye. Couldn't touch their family with stained hands. Couldn't bring themselves to hang out with friends at school anymore, constantly reminded they killed innocent people. Guilt weighed on them that they coincidentally met again at where it began, the tower...and they're brought back to Cephiro for a new battle. Three Invaders from other countries!

The boys then understood, that this experience in Cephiro broke Yuuri and her new friends, that they worked hard for redemption in killing two innocents, that their goal was to find the new Pillar Potential in hopes to destroy the Pillar System, to avoid another tragedy of despair. And as long as they lived, they are still Magic Knights. There's no retirement for them either till death do they retire. Their duty being innocent-killer. It was how Yuuri sees it. But she protected her friends from her dark thoughts while telling them what she thinks in innocent ways.

However, it wasn't just the three countries they worried about.

How could they have known, that the people of Cephiro created a terrible evil through fear in their hearts?

And how could she and Hikaru have known, that their feelings created beings that looked similar to them who were born out of their grief and guilt? The darkness in their hearts?

Thankfully, while Hikaru's gradually returned though crazy-antagonistic at first, Yuuri's manifestation whose appearance horrified her retinue, focused on distracting the citizens as she was fully-aware of the monster they created and aided them after approaching them as a friend. While Nova made herself known early on, they discovered the girl who calls herself Sara at the very end after they defeated Debonair, revealing herself to them and rejoined Yuuri after they got the redemption they wanted, and ensured nobody else died. Hell, they thought Eagle died, sacrificing himself for Hikaru when Sara actually saved him, sneaking him away before Debonair blew his FTO up!

Hikaru was the new Pillar and she abolished the system. But it does NOT change the fact that she is now extremely powerful enough to change the world or travel worlds on her own. She also has the biggest and purest heart out of all three of them that crazy girl innocently said she'd marry BOTH Lantis and Eagle! Fuu found love in Ferio Yuuri won't be surprised if Fuu asked Hikaru to take her to Cephiro one day, after coming out to her family if they ever ask if she has a boyfriend. Explaining that her heart is in another world literally, would be something to see.

Hikaru also has to deal with three doting older brothers...who may freak out that their only sister has TWO boyfriends perfectly willing to share their sister in another world. Yuuri would gladly avoid ground zero when that happens but she's sure Lantis and Eagle will sort them out.

As for her...she wondered if something will come out of her and Wolfram's engagement since she never did take it back due to seeing how happy his mother was about it and how everyone easily accepted it to disturbing degree she wasn't sure how they'd react if she took it back, but she has been worrying about it since. But if Wolfram loved someone else before her accident, he should say so to avoid tragedy which was why she ignores all his attempts to avoid attachment to avoid tragedy for them both. He should pursue someone he actually loves before it was too late, and that had been weighing on her a lot. She knows full well how not being with one you truly loved hurt.

Hell, she had a hand in killing two people who felt that way because of a bunch of idiots.

But if he was single before her accident happened...and she herself is also single...

xxx

That morning...

When the boys woke up, they woke to the smell of roast venison and Yuuri awake before them.

'Enjoyed your dream last night?' she asked them while using magic to cut the meat onto bite-sized chunks to put onto carved, smooth rock plates and wooden forks. On her case, it was chopsticks.

'Yuuri, we need to talk.' Wolfram grunted. She had been refusing his advances out of fear of another tragedy. But he's single! If he was single, she was willing to be courted by him so he has to make that clear _now_.

'Eh?' Wolfram dragged her away. 'W-waitaminit! Hey!'

As soon as the kids were gone, Yozak glowered at Conrad.

'Shall we address the bearbee in the room?' he said, glowering at Conrad who sighed. 'Your mission to reincarnate the Maou...'

They know that form that turned out to be Yuuri's other half...granted, she resembled Yuuri, but the hair and choice of dress!

'Aa. But she died before her time because of an unforgivable sin.' said Conrad in a pained voice. 'But Shinou-heika doesn't want anyone else because her soul was ideal. He refused all others because of potential corruption further exploited during war back then. So to save Shin Makoku, he denied the nobles the power they wanted, and for a Maou uninfluenced by anyone to come forth.' he sighed. 'She would have been a wonderful queen...if not for that crime that caused her death.' he said as Yozak looked pained too. 'Like Yuuri...no one can influence her. She will pursue what's best for everyone.' he then looked up at the sky. 'You can see that as well in that dream we had.'

'...yeah.' well, not even Yozak can deny that now.

'And like the one before her, she too, fell for a blue-eyed blonde.' Conrad chuckled. 'And it happened on our not-quite boat ride.'

Yozak snorted.

xxx

'Yuuri, you!' Wolfram swore, pinning her to a tree. 'I'll make this clear now. I'm Single so you don't have to worry and we don't have to rush even if we are engaged, OK?' he swore seriously, staring her in the eye. 'We have all time in the world and you're not hurting anyone here, alright?'

'Ah...you saw that...' Yuuri looked sheepish by now. But Wolfram looked at her dead in the eye because of another thing.

His teacher died years ago. Shortly after that, was Conrad's mission while war was still ongoing. Then the freaking dream happened and they were understandably shocked and his damn half-brother knew! And it was all for display in the dream!

She was his former teacher.

But reincarnations cause a clean slate for a new life to grow. Yuuri has no memory of who she once was. She showed no indication from beginning till now that she has familiarity of them. She was her own person.

Who she was once before, cannot be made public!

xxx

Voltaire Castle...

Gwendal and Gunther were just as stunned with the dream they had.

'Gwendal, about heika...' Gunther stammered out shakily, pale-faced after breakfast and even then he could hardly eat and Gwendal glowered at him.

'No matter what, our dreams do NOT leave our heads...got that?' he warned Gwendal. 'Its for her sake that it must not be known.' he insisted vehemently. 'She is long dead...and you cannot bring the dead back to life, nor force a new person to live the life of who she used to be.'

'Y-you're right, I hope this will stay forever in our heads...' Gunther fretted out.

'At least we know that she grew up and definitely not helpless any longer.' said Gwendal with a sigh. 'She can actually defend herself, we just didn't give her the chance to showcase her abilities so we didn't know that if given the chance with the right tools, she's actually capable.' he deadpanned.

xxx

Town by noontime...

They quickly booked a hotel room out of exhaustion.

Taking a bath, changing into clean clothes while having their old one washed via laundry service, and getting a decent meal after days of fruit and roast whatever.

'So what's next on our agenda guys?' Yuuri asked the boys curiously, while recharging her MP3.

'We power up Morgif.' said Wolfram. 'According to the books, he must devour human souls to gain power.'

Yuuri looked at him horrified.

'Let's dump him back in the springs!' she sputtered quickly. No way in hell will she do that! 'M-maybe it's life force, not literal lives, yeah! Maybe who wrote that book hates humans, so...'

'...Shinou wrote the book, Yuuri.' Wolfram told her blankly.

Yuuri went cracked granite, clearly disturbed.

'Let's dump him in the springs.' Yuuri had this pleading face at her retainers. They all looked comically-awkward. Beside her Morgif was wailing in protest.

'For now, we should worry about our country first, moral dilemmas can wait.' Yozak pointed out. 'We need to know from Voltaire-kyo if we're in for it. Then you have a legal excuse because it's war. Its them, or our people.'

'...and as King the choice is obvious, don'tcha think?' Yuuri deadpanned, moping. 'Naturally I'd choose you guys so Morgif gets to eat then. Fine, only when we're fighting, I'm NOT gonna farm humans for sword-food, OK?' she grumbled. 'I'd rather not give humanity any more reason to be more xenophobic towards us.'

'That also works.' Yozak grinned. 'Well, with this over with...after we have one night's rest here and enjoying the festival, we can all go home to report.'

'Right.'

xxx

After a bath and getting their laundry done...

The boys smell nice.

'Oh? Mens' perfume in this world smells nice!' she marveled, amazed.

'It's technology I brought back from Earth, Yuuri.' Conrad smiled. 'Humans naturally don't have soap, shampoo, perfume and other things for hygiene and cleanliness. But we had to develop medicine for dandruff though.' Yuuri sweatdropped at that.

'Well, your world sure has neat stuff heika, even our make-up improved too.' said Yozak. 'We got state-of-the-art stuff!'

'Well, as long as everyone's doing OK...' Yuuri smiled. 'Let's rest for now, since the fun stuff happens at night and we walked a looong time. Can't have fun if we all have sore legs.'

So they rested in their hotel rooms.

They pushed themselves, that it wasn't a surprise when a soft bed lulled them to sleep instantly...

When hours later, at night time...

They all felt a powerful presence that really woke them up from their grogginess.

'What the hell?!'

'Say Wolfram, can humans feel this?' Yuuri asked Wolfram curiously.

'Magic users regardless of race certainly can as is any mazoku!' Wolfram burst out at his rather-calm fiancee. 'Yuuri?'

Yuuri was rather happy with this presence.

'I know this presence, don't worry.' Yuuri smiled. 'In fact, I'd like you to meet my friends, Wolfram. Come on!' she took his hand and took him out of their room as Conrad and Yozak's doors burst open.

'Yuuri, Wolfram, where are you two going?!' Conrad sputtered, 'It's dangerous outside!'

'Not~'

'Not?!' Yozak croaked, baffled as they ran after the two kids. Outside was quite the surprise.

The girls from that dream, are here.

'Yuuri-chan, we found you!' Hikaru cried, glomping their King, followed by a very worried Fuu. 'When your presence from Earth disappeared, we panicked because when we leave Earth, we're always together!'

And they can suddenly understand Japanese!

'Hikaru-san had to track you down and there's so many worlds too...' Fuu croaked out worriedly. 'It was not easy for her to find you too...'

The mazoku's eyes bulged.

How _many_ worlds _before_ they found her?

'I'm sorry guys...but I have a circumstance that happened long before our first trip to Cephiro happened..._this_ was _it_.' said Yuuri weakly at her teary-eyed friends. 'This is best explained in our hotel room.'


	5. Magic Knights Present

Magic Knights Present

Yozak offered the anxious newcomers red tea since they HAVE been worrying about their friend's disappearance and made quite the effort to find her.

Yuuri had introduced each other first, leaving the girls shocked that Yuuri was ENGAGED, not just having a boyfriend!

Yuuri told them her tale. On why she is the 27th Maou of this world's mazoku race.

'Oh dear...so her family's in the know and she isn't until Conrad-san told her?' Fuu asked Conrad who nodded.

'W-wow...this isn't another...like that...right?' Hikaru asked Yuuri awkwardly.

The girls feared another Pillar Tragedy repeating.

That was written all over their face and they clearly do not want to be made to kill their friend after being made to kill an innocent.

'Thankfully not...' said Yuuri. 'I'm still learning this ruling business. You can't be a competent King in just a few weeks.' Hikaru and Fuu looked relieved. 'Right now we're here on a stealth mission to retrieve the Maou's Sword Morgif, a sword only Maou Shinou acknowledged can use...and he's got quite the personality.' she said, showing Morgif to them as Morgif made kissy faces, lovestruck.

He was a sort of...creepy-cute?

'Eek?!'

'He likes cute girls.' Yuuri deadpanned, putting him to lean on the wall again. 'Makes me wonder how the previous Maou got him to cooperate if he likes girls.'

'A-ahaha...that's a certainly interesting heirloom...' Fuu stammered out weakly.

'Nooow then...' Hikaru looked at Wolfram who balked.

'W-what?'

'Can we talk in the other room?' Hikaru and Fuu promptly dragged Wolfram out.

'H-hey what're you doing?! Get off me!' and door closed.

'...'

'I take it he's gonna get 'the talk', heika?' Yozak asked as he, Conrad and Yuuri sweatdropped.

'Yep, he will.' Yuuri chuckled. 'Cephiro is a land where one's heart shapes the world. Evil hearts give rise to calamity, so people there are mostly good and pure-hearted...and individuals with such inclination, are hunted down without mercy for the safety of the people who aren't strong enough to defend themselves.' she explained. 'We got too used to hanging out with such people that we can trust with our lives, that living in Earth feels alien to us now...even moreso for me in position as a newly-crowned monarch where people can conspire to use me or get rid of me to establish themselves.' Yuuri snorted. 'After all...to quote Gunther, the one with the strongest maryoku is enough qualification so who's second strongest if they did kill me?' she asked. 'Celi-sama can't take the throne back now and even then she's happily retired and prefers it stays that way.'

'You got touched by Cephiro.' Conrad mused sagely. 'That hanging out with genuinely good people...got you girls paranoid in turn in worlds like Earth and this one.'

'Sadly yes...' Yuuri said glumly. 'Even worse, we got sensitive to evil thoughts aimed toward us. We could feel it incoming.' she shuddered. 'Fuu-chan is popular in her school since she's really nice with the upbring of a high-class girl of a rich family. But she was never a typical rich bitch.' she explained. 'Usually, most rich girls are like that, but Fuu-chan is different. Include high grades and the star of her Archery Club, she's very popular with boys...though Ferio has her heart bagged, she turns everybody down politely...and then suddenly she gets malicious stalkers and detects typical bullying traps...she was grateful we gained magic or she'd never see those coming and safely get away.'

'Hikaru-chan is far luckier...nobody will ever have such nasty thoughts towards her they can't bring themselves to do it anyway...it helps that she loves to have fun but blissfully clueless of social romantic cues, unless you're Lantis and Eagle.' Yuuri chuckled. 'In Cephiro, you make your intentions clear while in Earth, you dance around and leave people guessing after all...then there's me.'

'What. happened?' Conrad frowned.

'Being a mazoku...explains why I'm a Japanese Beauty now.' Yuuri lamented. She was born VERY BEAUTIFUL that had she pursued showbiz, she'd be voted the most beautiful girl in Japan, to quote Fuu. And she's a known face in Sports Magazines being the ace gymnast of her school, always scoring top scores. So yes, ALL SCHOOLS know her so she was famous in her own way.

'My looks and straight-A grades, combined with me being famous in sports magazines like Fuu-chan is, I'm in more danger than her since I live in an district where anything can happen, while Fuu-chan lives in a high-security residential area for the wealthy in Tokyo. Boys who think with their lower heads have lewd fantasies of me while reading sports magazines that feature me in it, it's horrible to be near such people with such thoughts.' she croaked out, showing Yozak a sports magazine with her as the front cover and Yuuri was traumatized by being near potential predators. 'I asked dad to transfer me to an all-girls' school for high school this year for my sanity even though school year just barely begun.'

'Oh my god...'

'So yeah...at least I dodged a knife there...and my new school has no gymnastics club, so now I'm in the arts and crafts club. I still stay in shape though.'

xxx

Wolfram shuddered.

He learned a horrible truth from Fuu about their newfound ability to detect danger that they hoped he's not a dangerous fiancee to Yuuri...or else...so yes, he got the shovel talk.

'You guys are back.' Conrad stated as Wolfram looked pale-faced, followed by two cheerful girls who looked perfectly satisfied.

Scary.

'Since Yuuri-chan is OK now, we can go home in peace now.' said Hikaru. 'Please take care of Yuuri-chan for us.' she said as both girls bowed politely.

'Don't worry missies, we'll protect heika with our lives.' Yozak grinned jovially at them. 'The path to being a good king is rocky but she's veeery safe.' that satisfied the girls who vanished as golden light balls and burst into sparkles.

'Shovel talk much, Wolfram?' Yuuri teased Wolfram who sputtered incoherently.

'It must be scary, facing the Pillar of Cephiro and the Knight of Wind at once.' Yozak snickered.

Yuuri was understandably stronger than Fuu. Fuu was a normal human before gaining magic, while Yuuri was their reincarnated King whose powers multiplied in strength by a _factor of five_. She was the strongest maou in all their history. And the Magic Knights were supposed to be equal in power if not for those bizarre circumstances that Yuuri wasn't human and Hikaru was chosen by the Proof to become the Pillar, only, she abolished the system while STILL getting its powers as the living focus to share her power to the citizens who have strong hearts to keep Cephiro alive.

Hikaru can shape the world as she sees fit, Pillar System be damned. It'll be easy for her to kill Wolfram with a single thought, or anyone she thinks is a danger to those she cares for.

Scary thought there.

'Oh, shut up!'

xxx

The festival...

'Well, as if nothing happened, they go out on a date.' said Yozak wryly as they watched the kids go out into the streets. 'As if a girl who can destroy the world on a whim didn't come here. As if a girl who's a master of wind didn't come here.'

'Sou ne...well, as a bonus you can speak Japanese now.' said Conrad. 'Enabling us to have secret conversations in the open, leaving the natives baffled.'

'This oughta be fun...'

Yozak likes the idea.

xxx

In the streets of town...with Wolfram showing Yuuri around the sights, its really a date.

'This world is incredible, in a way~' said Yuuri as they enjoyed themselves with snacks. Considering they looted a pirate ship, they got plenty of money to burn! 'The meat and poultry tastes way better!'

'Species of livestock are different I guess.' Wolfram grinned. 'Have you enjoyed yourself?'

'Yeah. This festival is way more fun than Japan's...we're all about tradition there, see? We've never had events and public dances before since we're a reserved country high on formalities...'

'I see, that's gotta be boring.'

'Right? All that's missing now, is fireworks display.' said Yuuri. 'This world's only use for fireworks is mayday call for ships. What a shame.'

'Well, the final event is a dance, Yuuri.' Wolfram then offered her his hand. 'Shall we?'

'Un.' she took his hand and they went for the dance floor and spent the last waking hours dancing.

"This is how it should be, she shouldn't doubt anymore." Wolfram's satisfied.

Yuuri will no longer reject his efforts out of fear and accept his advances as her fiancee.

Next stop: Conrad!

xxx

'Do's and don'ts around Yuuri?' Conrad blinked owlishly.

'Well, romance dos and don'ts since social stuff is common sense.' Wolfram harrumphed with an armfold.

'Well, considering what she told us earlier when Hikaru and Fuu took you out for a shovel talk, number one rule is don't be a gross pervert.' said Conrad seriously. 'Ever since she came back from Cephiro, she detected lewd intent aimed at her particularly when looking at Sports Books that featured her since she's a top-class gymnast wearing a costume-style swimsuit and yes, that's what gymnasts wear.' he quickly added to Wolfram's horrified gawking. 'Those girls can detect ill will aimed at them and it got them nervous and distrustful of such people.'

'Second, public display is a no-no.' Conrad quipped in lecture mode. 'Japanese people are very reserved, some taking it to prudish degrees. If they show affection to their significant other, its in other, but more deep and meaningful gestures. They show their love well by how they understand their partner as a person, and know what to do to make them happy. Subtle to the public, but partner will see it coming. As for intimacy, it stays behind closed doors. Intimacy ONLY happens if your relationship is very deeply in love levels. Japanese women believe that only 'the right man' gets to erm, have them that way.' he said with an awkward cough, pink-faced. 'It's also how they sort out men who truly loves them from men who just wants their body.'

'Third, communication means a lot because it leads to number two. Japanese couples who are very serious with each other make it a point to know about the other very well so incase their partner's troubled or upset, they would know immediately and both comfort and help the other. And in many things in relationships, it's the thought that counts, not a pile of expensive gifts. She'd rather have gifts that have thought behind it that speaks how you feel.'

'Fourth, trust is precious. Hard to earn, easy to lose.' Conrad patted Wolfram's shoulder. 'Do well in those four.'

'Yeah, she has no reason to spurn me off now that she knows I'm single...all along she rejects all my efforts due to culture faux pas thinking she's trapping me when I have someone else all this time?!' Wolfram nearly whined. 'I'm single darn it!'

'Now she knows.' said Yozak wryly. 'But damn, Weller-kyo, they can't even hold hands, hug and kiss in public? The nobles are gonna think they hate each other's guts.' he snorted. 'As uncle I think you should talk to her on what a man's expected to do here or they're both politically and socially screwed.'

'Right...I'll go talk to Yuuri. You get our ship for home ready tomorrow.'

'Right-O! von Bielefelt-kyo come with me cuz' this talk ain't meant for your ears.'

xxx

'Eh? You mean what to expect from any mazoku man in relationships?' Yuuri blinked.

'Yes. I told Wolfram what to expect from a japanese girl so its high time you should know what to expect from a mazoku gentleman.'

'Heee...I'm all ears!' Yuuri chimed. 'I want to know how things are done here since before culture, I got shoved into office work first.' she stated wryly with a shrug. Conrad twitched. 'Come on, I slapped Wolfram hard in anger, only to learn I actually proposed to him?'

Conrad cringed.

Yeah, that WOULD be strange...

'Wrong start but we had no choice back then...our country getting back on its feet is important and drastically needed so cultural lessons and etiquette were shoved back onto the backburner...sadly.' he sighed. 'Shall we have this lesson while Yozak and Wolfram get our ship home ready?'

'Yeah.'

'We are very affectionate to our lovers. Has Wolfram done things with you recently?' Conrad asked as Yuuri looked thoughtful...before imitating a tomato in redness, utterly awkward.

'I-in our room at home, he goes shirtless around me and teases me a lot with his looks, a little touchy-feely but not the lecher kind and holds my hands a lot and speaks in whispers by my ears why does that have a lot of effect on me I dunno...and we cuddle in sleep or rather, it's HIM who cuddles ME...I'm not used to a handsome topless guy cuddling with me at night!' she burst out in a squeaky high-pitched voice. 'It's not fair because I'm defenseless against that sort of thing!'

Conrad swore if its possible, Yuuri would melt in front of him due to how she feels at that point.

Wolfram just barely avoided crossing rule one. Barely.

'That dummy...'

xxx

Back at Earth...

Shibuya Residence...

'So you're Yuuri's friends? It's our first time meeting you dears.' said Miko as at sundown, the girls came.

'Yes...we came to tell you Yuuri-chan's doing OK in Shin Makoku.' Hikaru piped as the family went wide-eyed at her.

'Ehhh?! Yuuri-chan's already working as King?! How is she doing?!'

Chaos descended on the girls via excited family...


	6. Sudden Twist

Sudden Twist

Well, Yuuri's family is now aware that she's a functioning King, with a fiancee no less, much to Shouri's freak-out that the girls had to reassure the older man that Yuuri's fiancee is a good kid...and Hikaru revealed she found their world and they can go there any time but for now, not now as Yuuri has something big to work on and cannot afford to leave her office for the time being.

The girls had no ability to tell the family that their daughter is dealing with WAR and is trying to find a non-bloody way out.

Yuuri really doesn't need her family bearing down on her at a time like this and Yuuri knows how to handle war like they do. She'll get through this. So as a failsafe as Yuuri felt Morgif is a sign of weakness should the enemy find out Shin Makoku's _actual_ strength...Hikaru let Yuuri have access to Selece.

Much more reassuring that way and Yuuri was super-thankful for importing her partner over for her. But to make it possible, Hikaru had to move Selece's shrine to the oceans of the other world after explaining to the Rune God why he has to be relocated until Yuuri's term as King ends. And his shrine is now in the oceans near Voltaire Territory.

Yuuri felt much better and she'll keep Selece secret, until the big bomb.

xxx

Shin Makoku...

Yuuri was at the kitchens doing something.

That something, being studying cookbooks.

She ate food here for her time here, and found them lacking. She wondered how Conrad dealt with such blandness after having Earth Food!

'Actually, I'm like you, just in reverse.' said Conrad sheepishly. 'Earth flavors overwhelmed me so, if you find our food bland. Maybe if you find a way to make it three notches better but not Earth Level...'

'That means your tongues are sensitive.' Yuuri sweatdropped. 'But I can go away with everything else?'

'Yes, just no Japan or America-level please, its way too much.' Conrad pleaded PLEADINGLY because he can't stand Earth Food that is way too flavored for him, having centuries of this bland food he got flavor shock, and unable to bear it that his time in Earth was torture, until his hosts figured he would love 'hospital food'...and he did!

He swore to her that he lost weight while looking for a rightful King candidate.

'Got it. I'll tweak this! No office work for me for now so I'll spend time here.'

So Conrad watched his goddaughter experiment in the kitchens and finding a way to make food palatable without overwhelming the natives. It's SHE who has to adjust, not them, but she has to please everybody. She wants flavor, and they can't stand her level of flavor. Upon knowing how 'hospital food' tasted like, she knows how to tweak seasoning and condiment additions and subtractions, while teaching how to make ideal meats, instead of that crappy rubber thing that's hard to chew and swallow?!

Now that she has free time, she can FINALLY attack the damn kitchens!

Gwendal and Gunther were fulfilling her requests regarding military logistics BEFORE they could make plans and Yozak is on a watch-and-see basis in other countries. Wolfram to his chagrin, was out with soldiers his age planning evacuation sites and planning how much food and water to store in times of war. Because if shit happens, its their job to protect families, and the next generation. And if shit really DID happen, who knows who the next Maou will be after her!

So yes, while Yuuri can afford office downtime, she would stuff her soldiers next as she can't call their food 'fine dining'. It's absolute crap!

Upon figuring out the right formula for Mazoku-kind's national dishes, Yuuri ordered every home gets it for everyone to eat well and be able to stuff their stomachs while still ensuring everyone gets enough nutrition. Moreover she found something WRONG with cooking methods which she remedied.

She also handled bread cooking well, and introduced Filled bread buns in place of Anpan, Pancakes, Shokupan(and the knife needed to slice it) and savory sandwiches, her version of black bread that's more palatable, and Pizza. She also introduced the art of making jams for sweet sandwiches.

However, she made 'Maou's version just for herself, and she had to explain to the maids why she didn't have hers printed and had them taste it...they all dove for the nearest drink they could get because it was too much for them. She finds their food under-seasoned and the natives think she likes it overly done when its normal where she was from and finds THEIRS weird...so to make both sides happy, this has to be done.

'Hey! Food tasted wonderful now!'

'What soft meat! Meat's usually so hard!'

'Heika, this is wonderful!' Gunther was delighted as the food was delicious and meat so unbelievably soft and easy on the teeth now.

'One thing I _wanted_ to work on since I got here, but I got swamped with work on day one alone.' Yuuri sighed. 'Eat lots since meat is like rubber you never got much of the good stuff and to compensate for potential malnutrition due to old methods, everyone should eat a lot from now on till stomachs are full.'

'With food this good everyone really would!' Conrad chuckled. This was just _perfect_! Not too much flavor, delicious and meat is finally a consumable! Earth meat was what he could eat, not the meat here...

It was inevitable seconds would be asked for, that the maids were troubled with running back and forth...at least the King's satisfied with her portions!

xxx

A week later...

Mood at the City improved as Wolfram and his men noted when they got home.

'The city's unusually happy?'

Not only that, people are holding food. A lot. All kinds!

And it smells good no matter where they go.

'What happened in one week?' Wolfram asked a nearby man. 'Did something happen?'

'Oh young sir, her majesty released cookbooks from the castle and food's gotten incredible!' said an auntie. 'We've never had food this good before!'

And so...

'Oh, welcome back.' Yuuri greeted as Wolfram reported to her. 'How'd it go?'

'I split up my division for all provinces of Shin Makoku.' said Wolfram. 'My division tasked to Shin Makoku's the first to return and we mapped out ideal evacuation areas here, who knows about other provinces.' said Wolfram, handing her a few documents.

'Well, it's a start I guess.' said Yuuri, taking the documents from him. It was clearly a final draft. 'This all secure?'

'Yeah. Well hidden, lots of space, access to water and nothing Adalbert knows. All requirements fulfilled.' Wolfram reassured her.

Yuuri sighed in relief. At least the Capital Province is secure.

'Phew...all that's left is the harvests...I had a clan tasked to preserving national livestock to feed the country, and saving up as much as livestock feed as possible. So incase some asshole set fire to farms, we still have meat and seafood to fall back on until the next harvest.' said Yuuri. 'Very few people know we're preparing for war, I don't want a national panic until we get accurate information from Yozak. I had him decide his actions that as long as it benefits national security, he can have fun as long as I get a detailed report. He can even take in some action to buy us more time.'

By that, she meant assassination.

She was willing to go this far when she really didn't want to, knowing how strong Shin Makoku is currently.

In war, they are disadvantaged in numbers.

Humans grow up quicker thus can train armies faster. Mazoku age 5 times slower than humans and that's if they have no maryoku. They age slower the stronger in magic they are when they hit their prime. Fortunately, one's maryoku strength was determined at birth, one needed only to master and refine what they have. So really, anything goes for mazoku.

Yuuri had them handle Military Matters while she handles all else.

Things were tense in the palace, until Yozak returned.

'Well?!'

'Well,' Yozak was looking sheepish. 'Remember the pirate incident?'

'Yeeees?' everyone blinked owlishly.

'See here, one of the major fundraisers was Cavalcade.' said Yozak. 'The former prince was there. And heika saving that ship from Pirates with that stunt made him convince his father otherwise, and he was grateful for his daughter's life who nearly got sold to slavery and she's FIVE!' he shuddered. 'Without Cavalcade and my ensuring accidents of others...it's safe to say without money and supporters, you can't wage war.' he chimed to their relief. 'I triple-checked by traveling back and forth.'

'That's good to hear...we are _so_ not ready.' Yuuri was relieved. 'However, while we dodged an arrow, our preparations remains! We nearly got caught with our pants down I don't want a repeat! We lack numbers, but we'll make up for it in tactics, supplies and quality, I'll leave that to you guys.' she said. 'I'll focus on wealth and prosperity on my end...so who's gonna take me to the farms tomorrow, nationwide? I learned Food Preservation so the excess food will go there...more food means more people incoming.'

'Oh, my job's done, I'll go with you.' Wolfram piped up.

'Hummm, about that Heika...' Yozak piped up. 'Cavalcade intends to visit two weeks from now and from the time I got news, it's like, three days left to prepare.'

'Ah...then we'll provide a good hospitality then!' Yuuri beamed. 'Gunther, the castle will undergo a little...renovation, OK? I'll change it back when my term as King is over and I'll plan the menu for their stay. Oh, and I left everyone's bedrooms alone so it stays as is.'

'Eh...?' Gunther blinked as Yuuri stomped hard on the floor with a smile, and the castle changed when she did...into Cephirian-style architecture.

One word: gorgeous.

'WHOA!'

'So where are the royal guestrooms...? And anything no-no about the gardens? I'll do a little landscaping.'

'Well, there's one place.' Conrad smiled. 'Anything but that spot, Yuuri.'

'OK, a little guidance?'

xxx

Three days later...

Blood Pledge Castle...was beautiful, as it amazed their human guests, the Royal Family of Cavalcade with some bodyguard. The gardens were full of flowering trees, and berry shrubs. She had imported such plants from Cephiro and Earth, made the lawn exactly 3 cm tall and trimmed that it's a beautiful green in color. The walls were swarming with flower vines you can barely see the wall itself. Heck, that sloping path uphill leading to the castle? Full of bougainvillea archways! The uphill itself isn't a bare rock, but rather, green all over with beautiful wild flowers.

'Welcome.' Yuuri greeted with a sweet smile. Behind her were the Advisor and Royal Brothers. She was dressed in a cephirian-style gown. A halter black gown with flower petal-cut skirt with gold trim and straps, and underneath is a white skirt. Her black hair, was super long, pitch-black and glossy.

They would show them Shin Makoku-Style Hospitality.

The castle has comforting cool air blowing throughout the halls despite how hot it was outside as it was summer. Everywhere has a red carpet with gold trim. Rooms are gorgeous as well as baths. Yuuri handled the Royal Family herself, much to the astonishment of her retinue, and continued to wow them throughout her stay. And because there's one little girl present, she built an adventure playground to busy the kid with. Food was also a key factor in impression. Gorgeous Cuisine and Desserts!

Gwendal had taught her what to and what NOT to share as a precaution, and she performed splendidly.

The visit ended on a good note.

'Hey, I did well, right?' Yuuri asked as the carriage was long gone, her gown poofing back into her usual casual wear, and her floor-length hair is actually, just an illusion. Her actual hair length reached her waist.

Well, if even Gwendal smiled, she really did well!

'Welp, we got Cavalcade on our side now.' said Yozak who wore a formal uniform during the long stay. 'They have nothing bad to say about us now, since you gave them incredible hospitality and pleased them all the way without losing face.' he said. 'But we were forced to reveal you're a halfling...'

'Its a necessary giveaway to lower their guards down.' said Yuuri. 'A fifteen year old double-black yet to choose her alignment and a newbie King. A sign I'm not a threat and won't start any shit with anybody.' she snorted. 'I even played the demure lady card and that will be what humans will see me as worldwide.' she chuckled. 'When you know I'm anything but.' the guys snorted. Yuuri was justifiably hysterical, but grew up and grew to adapt to her position, aware she is needed by many. 'Well, diplomacy is mentally taxing, we should relax for at least two days of doing _absolutely nothing_, before business as usual. I still want to see the farms after that.'

'That sounds wonderful.' said Gwendal with a sigh. 'I don't want to see any paper and pen for now. I don't even want to see my office.'

xxx

'A two days' break...not so bad.' said Wolfram as they hung out outside the city, on the hillside full of wild flowers, and a giant tree on top of the hill to provide shade. And they were there for alone time, complete with a blanket and picnic basket. They were in casual clothing you'd expect nobles to wear. But by standards, japanese classic and goth loli is perfectly acceptable as noble lady's wear, as long as the skirt is of reasonable length for a lady.

'We deserve a holiday too you know.' Yuuri sighed. 'I never dreamed diplomacy is so taxing~and mentally and psychologically stressful too because one wrong thing to say, and a house of cards will fall down.'

'Too true,' Wolfram agreed. They enjoyed their date at the hilltop alone.

Wolfram also found that Conrad described Yuuri to a tee that simple things really in fact, matter. Are Japanese Women that different to a typical noblewoman of this world?

"Simply spend time with her and make it clear that you're a good man she would marry and have family with." and the kind of man a Japanese Woman would like, at least, according to Yuuri's mother as Conrad knew the parents. And given what Cephirian Men are like further influences that Yuuri only wants pure love from her other half.

Rather than display his gift on her chest, she hid it in fear of it being stolen and getting him mad at her, so she hid it in her room in her house.

Expensive gifts, are out of the question. She would be scared off!

At least his wallet will be intact, to say the least. Had he been engaged to a noblewoman, he would be expected to lavish her with expensive gifts. Yuuri wasn't like that...THANKFULLY.

Rather, he finds it very easy to fall hard, because she never made standards nor expectations beyond being a good person she would want to be with.

And maybe a man her overprotective brother won't _strangle_.

When Yuuri sent word to her friends that danger was averted?

That was when it happened.

Hikaru gleefully dropped her family on them after breakfast, appearing in the dining room and apparently, ready to stay for a few days by how they looked...

'Ah!'

'Mom! Dad! Shouri!' Yuuri sweatdropped as her family was over.

'Wolfram, meet your in-laws.' Conrad chuckled as Wolfram looked horrified and freaking out. 'I think you'll get another type of talk today.'

'Looks like the next few days will be interesting, to say the least.' said Gwendal wryly.

'So you're the fiancee?' Shouri who was as tall and muscular as Conrad glowered at Wolfram who wondered if he'll get another shovel talk today.

'Now now Shouri, don't scare him too much before I get to say my piece as her father...' said Shouma with a dark smile.

'Y-Yuuri...' Wolfram was sweating buckets, but the men took him out already because the mother was smothering her daughter with her hugs. 'Waaaaaah!'


End file.
